Biomass News

South Korea-based Hana Financial Investment Co. will finance a project constructing a 200MW biomass power plant worth $550.7 million (€512m) in Gunsan, west of South Korea. According to Pulsenews.com, the biomass facility will be led by state-run utility firm Korea Midland Power Co. Under the terms of agreement, the financial institution will provide funds to the state-run project building…
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Environmental group Friends of the Earth has launched a campaign against a planned experimental biomass and waste gasification plant in the UK. Energy company Egnedol has submitted a planning application for a renewable energy plant to be located in Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire. The application also includes plans to use its waste CO2 within other industries, such as fish and prawn farming, algal…
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EPH Lynemouth Power has awarded Emerson a contract to help convert the 44-year-old coal-fired Lynemouth power station to a new biomass-fuelled power plant. As main automation contractor and main electrical contractor, Emerson is responsible for helping the project come online within budget and on time. Should the conversion be finished on schedule in late 2017, the plant, near Newcastle in the…
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The Wood Recyclers’ Association (WRA) has joined forces with its German equivalent BAV in a reciprocal arrangement that will see the two organisations sharing knowledge and information. WRA Chairman Andy Hill and Executive Director Julia Turner attended a conference organised by BAV (the German Waste Wood Society) in Berlin at the end of last year. Hill gave German delegates an overview of…
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Beijing will strengthen environmental protection in 2017 by organizing an environmental police force to step up supervision and accountability in its 16 districts, according to acting mayor Cai Qi. "Open-air barbecues, garbage incineration, biomass burning, dust from roads -- these acts of non-compliance with regulations are actually the result of lax supervision and weak law enforcement," said…
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Irish energy specialist Bord na Móna is to stop importing palm kernel shells from plantations in some of the world’s most biodiverse countries following concerns that it is helping to fuel deforestation. According to The Irish Times, since 2010, more than 150,000 tonnes of palm kernel shells (PKS) have been bought by the semi-state company to burn along with peat at…
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GB Railfreight (GBRf), one of the largest rail freight operators in the UK, has announced it has signed a rail haulage contract with Lynemouth Power (LPL), to build 50 new purpose built high capacity biomass hopper wagons, following a successful tender submission. The new hoppers are estimated to start their service on the 1st October 2017. GBRf plans to run 27 trains per week, delivering over…
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The third generating unit at Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire, UK, has been given European Commission (EC) approval to be fully powered by sustainable biomass. Drax can now complete the upgrade of the third of its six units to run on wood pellets, a process that started in July 2015. Now half the power station will produce renewable electricity, saving 12 million tonnes of carbon…
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Blenheim Palace, an Oxfordshire, UK, UNESCO World Heritage Site, has instigated a series of environmental initiatives in a bid both to reduce its reliance on traditional energies and its overall carbon footprint. Among the most significant improvements are a 42% reduction in overall mains water consumption from 2013, the lowest electricity usage figures in five years, and an 81% reduction in its…
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The University of St Andrews’ £25 million (€29.3m) biomass plant at the Eden Campus at Guardbridge has been officially commissioned. The plant marks a major step forward for St Andrews’ plans to become the UK’s first carbon neutral university. Located on the east side of a former paper mill site, the plant produces hot water in a biomass boiler using clean, natural…
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The Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) has signed a 15-year loan with the Finnish utility Lahti Energia for the construction of the new biomass-fuelled heating plant, the Kymijärvi III. The project is part of the City of Lahti’s plan to halve CO2 emissions by 2025, compared to 1990 levels. The new 170MW facility will replace the existing 350MW coal-fired plant, Kymijärvi I, which will…
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China plans to increase the share of biomass-based energy in its power supply in a bid to reduce reliance on coal and improve air quality. According to China’s National Energy Administration’s 13th five-year plan, covering the period of 2016 to 2020, the country will achieve biomass energy equivalent of 58 million of tonnes by 2020 the end of the plan. Despite China producing biomass…
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Indian researchers have found a new use for sugarcane pulp as a source of highly fluorescent carbon quantum dots, which could reduce agricultural waste and offer a new revenue stream for farmers. These dots are tiny carbon nanoparticles, which are about four nanometers across, meaning that more of them would fit on the head of a pin than there are stars in the Milky Way. Because they emit light…
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The Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) has appointed energy consultancy Baringa Partners to lead a new ETI bioenergy project examining the future of biomass logistics in the UK, alongside Ecofys and LLamasoft. Utilising LLamasoft’s supply chain design software, Supply Chain Guru, the six month project will model the logistics requirements of future bioenergy scenarios, identifying…
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